System and method for providing power distribution system information

ABSTRACT

A system, method and computer program product for processing utility data of a power grid is provided. In one embodiment, the system includes a datamart comprised of a plurality of physical databases storing utility data, a plurality of applications comprising an automated meter application configured to process power usage data from a plurality of automated meters, a power outage application configured to identify a location of a power outage, and a power restoration application configured to identify a location of a power restoration. The system may include an analysis engine comprising a plurality of analysis objects with each analysis object configured to process data to provide a specific analysis, wherein said analysis engine is accessible via one or more of the plurality of applications, and the system may include a report module configured to receive an output from the analysis engine and to output a report. The plurality of applications may also include a fault analysis application, a transformer analysis application, a theft detection application, a power flow application, a substation automation application, a load shed application and others.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of, and claims priority to, U.S.application Ser. No. 12/355,769, filed Jan. 17, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No.8,000,913, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.61/032,468, filed Feb. 29, 2008 entitled “System and Method forProviding Power Line Distribution System Information,” and U.S.Provisional Application No. 61/022,469, filed Jan. 21, 2008 entitled“System and Method for Providing Power Line Distribution SystemInformation,” all of which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentirety for all purposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to systems and methods formanaging power transmission and distribution systems, and moreparticularly to systems and methods for providing and processing powerline distribution system information.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The power system infrastructure includes power lines, transformers andother devices for power generation, power transmission, and powerdelivery. Various computer systems may control portions of the powersystem infrastructure. Objectives of a utility company are to generate,transmit and deliver power to customers in a reliable, efficient costeffective manner, which includes reducing maintenance costs and powerlosses. The power system infrastructure typically includes thousands ofpower lines, transformers and other components, many of which have beenin place for many years. Based upon the size of the power system, thenumber of components included and the relative aging of variouscomponents, maintaining the utility company objectives is challenging.

There is a need for systems and methods that allow a utility or othercentral provider to access, monitor and control various power systemcomponents. Further, there is a need for systems and methods that allowa utility to more effectively distribute power, to respond to varyingdemands for power, and to maintain various portions of the power system.Various systems are sometimes available to perform one of more functionsfor improving power system performance. However, there is a need for anintegrated information management and control system that can obtain,process, and manage information from various systems that utilitycompanies may already have in place. These and other needs may beaddressed by one or more embodiments of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a system and method of a system, methodand computer program product for processing utility data of a powergrid. In one embodiment, the system includes a datamart comprised of aplurality of physical databases storing utility data, a plurality ofapplications comprising an automated meter application configured toprocess power usage data from a plurality of automated meters, a poweroutage application configured to identify a location of a power outage,and a power restoration application configured to identify a location ofa power restoration. The system may include an analysis enginecomprising a plurality of analysis objects with each analysis objectconfigured to process data to provide a specific analysis, wherein saidanalysis engine is accessible via one or more of the plurality ofapplications, and the system may include a report module configured toreceive an output from the analysis engine and to output a report. Theplurality of applications may also include a fault analysis application,a transformer analysis application, a theft detection application, apower flow application, a substation automation application, a load shedapplication and others.

The invention will be better understood by reference to the followingdetailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is further described in the detailed description thatfollows, by reference to the noted drawings by way of non-limitingillustrative embodiments of the invention, in which like referencenumerals represent similar parts throughout the drawings. As should beunderstood, however, the invention is not limited to the precisearrangements and instrumentalities shown. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a power transmission and distributioninformation management and control system, according to an exampleembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a control and data flow diagram of various power transmissionand distribution information management and control applications,according to an example embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a method for providing power transmission anddistribution information management and control, according to an exampleembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

In the following description, for purposes of explanation and notlimitation, specific details are set forth, such as particular networks,devices, communication systems, computers, terminals, components,techniques, data and network protocols, power line communication systems(PLCSs), software products and systems, enterprise applications,operating systems, development interfaces, hardware, etc. in order toprovide a thorough understanding of the present invention.

However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the presentinvention may be practiced in other embodiments that depart from thesespecific details. Detailed descriptions of well-known networks, devices,communication systems, computers, terminals, components, techniques,data and network protocols, software products and systems, operatingsystems, development interfaces, and hardware are omitted so as not toobscure the description of the present invention.

Typically, utility IT (information technology) systems are computersystems with applications that process a specific set of data to providea specific analysis. In addition, such IT systems are stand alonesystems and rarely communicate with each other or have access to thesame data. If a utility wishes to add a new application, it often needsto be built from the ground up with its own data access, reportingmodules, etc. The present invention integrates the IT systems of theutility to allow them to share data, analysis engines, reportingmodules, and other backend applications.

According to an example embodiment of the present invention, a systemfor power transmission and distribution information management andcontrol (PTDIMC) is provided. FIG. 1 shows an example embodiment of thePTDIMC system 100 and the power transmission and distribution system110. Various measurement devices, control devices and analyzer devices112 are located throughout the power transmission and distributionsystem 110 and connected through a communication infrastructure 114 tothe other portions of the PTDIMC system 100. The PTDIMC system 100 mayimplement a distributed computing architecture to manage, control andmaintain power transmission and distribution operations. Various utilitymanagement and control support systems 140 with associated applicationsare integrated into the distributed computing architecture.

A data acquisition system 116 acquires operational and non-operationaldata for storage in a data mart 124 from which the data may be providedto various utility management and control support systems 140. Ananalysis engine 126 may be accessed by the various utility managementand control support systems 140 to analyze recently acquired andhistorical data. The analysis engine may be configured to cause thereport and notification generator 135 to output an alarm notification ifprocessing of utility data satisfies one of a plurality of predeterminedconditions (e.g., such as those associated with applications 202-232).Various utility computer systems (IT) may execute applicationscomprising the utility management and control support systems 140, andmay access the analysis engine 126. Technicians and other personnel withappropriate privileges may access the applications and PTDIMC system 100using human machine interfaces 132 which allows access to the report andnotification interfaces 134 and control interfaces 136. The dataprocessing may enable real time and predictive responses, rather thanjust reactive responses, to instantaneous disruptions. The PTDIMC system100 together with the power transmission and distribution system 112being monitored, analyzed and controlled is referred to herein as asmart grid.

Power Transmission and Distribution System 110: A given utility orservice provider may operate and control various power grids which formall or part of a given power transmission and distribution system 110. Apower distribution network may include a substation, substationtransformers, distribution transformers, medium voltage power lines, andlow voltage power lines, along with various switching capacitors,capacitor banks, relays, re-closers, line protectors and otherinfrastructure. Various power distribution networks may be connected viamedium voltage power lines, high voltage power lines, and otherinfrastructure to form the power transmission and distribution system110 (also referred to herein as the power grid).

Measurement Devices, Control Devices and Analyzer Devices 112: Variousmeasurement devices, control devices and analyzer devices 112 arelocated throughout the power transmission and distribution system 110.Measurement devices may be coupled to various power lines, at thesubstation, at customer premises, and be located near various powerdistribution system components. A measurement device may measure ordetect various power distribution system parameters at a given location,such as current, voltage, power usage, detection of a power outage,detection of water in a pad mount transformer enclosure, detection of anopen pad mount transformer enclosure, detection of a street lightfailure, power delivered to a transformer, power factor, dissolvedgases, switch configuration, capacitor bank configuration, breakerconfiguration, power delivered to a downstream branch, data of theharmonic components of a power signal, load transients data, loaddistribution data, and/or other characteristics. Control devices may becoupled to or be part of power system switches. Analyzer devices may belocated at various substations, near distribution transformers and atother locations. Among the analyzers may be intelligent electronicdevices (IEDs), such as power quality analyzers, transformer dataconcentrators, dissolver gas analyzers, and digital fault recorders.

Communication Infrastructure 114: Various commands may be sent to themeasurement devices, control devices, and analyzer devices 112 via acommunications infrastructure 114. Also, data may be obtained from themeasurement devices, control devices, and analyzer devices 112 via thecommunications infrastructure 114. In various embodiments thecommunication infrastructure 114 may comprise wired and/or wirelessmedia. For example, the communication infrastructure 114 may be formedby mobile telephone network, paging network, WiMAX network, wide areanetwork (WAN), coaxial cable network, DSL network, global network (e.g.,internet) or some combination thereof. In addition, in some embodimentsall or a portion of the communication infrastructure 114 may be providedby a power line communication system (PLCS). Detailed descriptions ofexamples of a PLCS, along with system elements such as CT bridges,backhaul points, repeaters (e.g., a CT bridge acting as a repeater),power line servers, sensors, other components and their functionalityare provided in U.S. Pat. No. 7,224,272, issued May 29, 2007, entitled“Power Line Repeater System and Method,” which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety for all purposes. Additional descriptions ofsuch devices, sensors, components and their functionality is provided inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/423,206 filed Jun. 9, 2006, issuedas U.S. Pat. No. 7,761,079, entitled “Power Line Communication Deviceand Method,” which is incorporated herein by reference in its entiretyfor all purposes.

In an example embodiment in which the communication infrastructure 114includes a PLCS, an access device (e.g., CT bridges, backhaul points,repeaters) may connect to and communicate with one or more communicationdevices via a low voltage power line. For example, communications may betransmitted from the access device along power lines of the powertransmission and distribution system 110, to a power line modem coupledto a measurement device, control device or analyzer device 112, and fromthe power line modem along power lines to the access device. The PLCSmay also be used to perform automated meter reading.

Data Acquisition System 116: The data acquisition system 116 may includevarious adaptors, drivers and other software modules for communicatingwith the various measurement devices and in some instances, for storingdata in the data mart 124. In addition, various utility management andcontrol support systems 140 may access the data acquisition system 116to obtain data and/or to send control messages to equipment. A dataservice interface forming part of the data mart 124, for example, maydetermine which data base adaptor to specific data is requested from agiven application (or from the analysis engine 126 discussed below). Theadaptors may be configured to send commands and receive data from thedatamart 124 and the measurement devices, control devices and analyzerdevices 112.

The various data acquired by the PTDIMC may be stored in one or moredistributed databases (e.g., distributed among the utility's IT systems)that form part of the data mart 124, which also includes a dataintegration server. The datamart 124 provides a single logicalrepository for all (or most) of the data used by an electric utility.The datamart includes a plurality of physical databases some of whichmay be physically remote from each other. The data of these databases istypically collected and/or maintained by separate departments of theelectric utility and in some instances, by one or more third parties.Generally, only the department of the utility collecting and maintainingthe data typically has access to its associated data. In embodiments ofthe present invention, access to the utility data by other departmentsand/or third parties may be provided via a Utility Data IntegrationSystem (UDIS) forming part of the data mart. The UDIS facilitatescontrolled integration of, and access to, data of the data mart (and insome embodiments, localized processing of that data) by variousdepartments within the utility and by third parties, all of whichtypically would not otherwise have such access.

In one example, a plurality of IT systems (such as those correspondingto different utility departments) house diverse utility data such asdata related to asset management, work management, Supervisory Controland Data Acquisition (SCADA), GIS, substation automation, datamanagement system (DMS) and/or other departmental systems of one or moreutility companies. Such data may be integrated in accordance with thepresent invention to form a data mart. Each IT system may be configuredto respond to a collection of commands received via the Utility DataIntegration System from other IT systems. For example, a first IT system(of a first department or remote third party entity) may invoke acommand in a second (different) IT system. This command may be as simpleas “read data” such as a request for voltage and current data (waveformor RMS) which the first IT system uses to compute the power factor orpower. Alternately, the command may be more complex such as a command torun an analytical algorithm (resident on the second IT system) such as acommand to compute (and return) the power and/or power factor. Suchinvoking may comprise actually passing the command but a preferredmethod may be to pass data or a “flag” to the receiving IT system.However, the preferred method requires the secondary IT system have aninterface that recognizes the data and/or flags. (there may be adifference as stated here.

In some embodiments, the UDIS may include, or provide access to,applications that are reused by a multitude of the IT systems. Thus,instead of creating the same application for different IT systems, theUDIS provides access to the application for many IT systems. In summary,the architecture of the UDIS supports four unique interface servicesthat perform four tasks: (1) Data Interface Service (e.g., collectingand serving data), (2) Analysis Interface Service (e.g., analyzingdata), (3) Notification and Reporting Interface Service (e.g.,generating alarms and reports), and (4) Control Interface Service (e.g.,controlling equipment).

There are three general categories of data that may be accessed. Onecategory of data that may be acquired is utility measurement data,(e.g., actual raw measurement data from any of the measurement devices;output data from any of the analyzer devices; configuration data fromany of the control devices). Another category is asset property data,which comprises data pertaining to equipment such as transformers,sensing devices, communication devices and other equipment which formpart of a power transmission and distribution system 110 or thecommunication infrastructure 114. The asset property data may includeidentifying data and other information about the asset. For example, atransformer's property data may include, among other properties, thetransformer's power rating, operating efficiency, location, date ofinstallation, and date of last service. A third category of data mayinclude utility system topology data, which comprises asset connectivitydata. In a sense, the power transmission and distribution system 110 mayform a network of nodes from which data is collected. Network topologyrefers to the connectivity of the various nodes within the powertransmission and distribution system 110. In various embodiments, a nodewithin a network's topology may be a consumer's utility meter, adistribution transformer, a power line communication device serving aneighborhood, or a back haul device. By allowing access to the utilitymeasurement data, the properties of the asset obtaining the measurementdata, and the location of the asset within the network topology,extensive analysis may be performed for various purposes. Detaileddescriptions of examples of a data acquisition system and data mart areprovided in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/353,850 filed Jan. 14,2009, entitled “System, Method and Product for Processing Utility Data,”which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for allpurposes.

Analysis Engine 126, Analysis Service Interface 128, and AnalysisObjects 130: The PTDIMC 100 may include an analysis engine 126, ananalysis service interface 128, and analysis objects 130. The analysisservice interface provides versatility allowing various applications toaccess specific analysis program modules used by various utilitymanagement and control support systems 140. Specific analysis programmodules may be perform specific analyses.

The analysis engine 126 controls the execution of one or more analysisrules, which includes calling one or more analysis objects to processdata. More specifically, the “rule” is created by a subject matterexpert (SME) module. The SME has a list of all the analysis objectssupported by the system and then links them together in the rule. Theanalysis objects comprise an extensive library of domain specificutility objects. The analysis objects know what data is needed toperform the function and retrieve the data via the data mart. The Reportand Notification Service Interface 134 generates a report, chart oraction from the analysis results.

The analysis objects 130 is a group of software objects (e.g., COM, .NETassemblies, DLLs, etc.) that encapsulate analysis methods and areavailable to other components of the analysis engine 126. Each object isdesigned to perform a specific function or analytical procedure. Anexample of a simple smart object is the computing of power factor fromrecorded kW and kVAR values, while a more complex smart object is aneural network based capacitor signature analysis of a voltage waveform.Given waveform (oscillography) data collected from devices (nodes on thegrid) these, more complex, reusable smart objects, using a combinationof SME developed rules-based expert systems and SME developed fuzzylogic systems various waveform and other data may be analyzed.

Report and Notification Service Interface 134: The various utilitymanagement and control support systems 140 and the analysis engine 126may execute various computer programs that gather data for presentationin a report or that analyze data to detect conditions that require anotification. Such reports may be compiled and saved, output orotherwise delivered (e.g., transmitted, displayed or printed) by thereport and notification service interface 134. Such notifications alsomay be generated and saved, output (e.g., transmitted; displayed;printed) or otherwise delivered (e.g., email) by the report andnotification service interface 134.

Control Service Interface 136: The control service interface 136 may beaccessed by one or more utility management and control support systems140, and by the analysis engine 126 to send commands to variousmeasurement devices, control devices and analyzer devices. For examplethe control service interface 136 may format commands from specificapplications to execute on one or more of the utility management andcontrol support systems 140 or the analysis engine 126, and forward thecommand to the data acquisition system 116. The data acquisition system116 in turn may send the command to a specific measurement device,control device or analyzer device 112 via the communicationsinfrastructure 114.

Human Machine Interface 132: Technicians and other utility personnel orother users having appropriate privilege may access the PTDIMC 100 at ahuman machine interface 132 hosted at a personal computer or othercomputing device. Such access may occur via the internet, via a widearea network, via a local area network or by other access to one or morecomponents of the PTDIMC. For example a browser based may access a webserver that provides full functional access to remote users through theInternet or a company's intranet. In an example embodiment the browserbased HMI may give users a graphical view of the state of the smartgrid, indications on whether any alarms have occurred, full access toreports, and a detailed data analysis and manipulation through datapresentation, computation, and graphing applications. The console(administrative) HMI 132 provides an interactive environment for a userto access all administrative functions including setup and maintenance.

As another example, an HMI 132 may be an application installed on a PCat a power substation or a utility command center. From the consolevarious functions may be performed, such as: set up and maintain systemdatabases; add or change graphical HMI layouts; add, delete, or editmonitors or assets and their properties including download intervals;add, delete, or edit alarms and automated reports; add, delete, or editrate schedules; add, delete, or edit local or Web users and assignnames, passwords, and viewing levels; acknowledge or delete alarms; andview reports and data via report packages.

Additional description of the analysis engine 126, analysis serviceinterface 128, analysis objects 130, the report and notification serviceinterface 134, the control service interface 136 and the various humanmachine interfaces 132 are provided in U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/355,361 filed Jan. 16, 2009, entitled “System, Method and ComputerProgram Product for Analyzing Power Grid Data,” which is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

Utility Management and Control Support Systems 140:

The PTDIMC system 100 implements a distributed architecture integratingmany utility company control systems and information technology systems.For example, each of various utility management and control supportsystems 140 may be implemented by one or more computing devices(co-located or distributed), such as workstations or server computerswhich run applications for performing specific system functions. A givenapplication may execute on a given support system 140 or include modules(or sub-modules) distributed among computer systems. An application mayinterface with the analysis engine 126, various service interfaces 128,134, 136, the data mart 124 Data may be accessed from the data mart 124and, in some cases, from measurement devices, control devices andanalyzer devices 112. Users may monitor, control and analyze operationsusing a human machine interface 132 that permits access to one or moreutility management and control support systems 140. Examples of utilitymanagement and control support systems 140 that may form part of thePTDIMC system 100 include: direct device control system 152, volt-VARsystem 154, substation automation system 158, distributed powergeneration system 160, distributed power restoration system 162, demandresponse system 164, automated metering 166, condition based maintenance168, distribution management system 170, planning 172, asset management174, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system 176,geographic information system (GIS) 178, work management 180 and faultmanagement 182. Additional details of the applications of each of thesesystems 152-182 follows in the next section.

Direct Device Control System 152: Individual devices among themeasurement devices, control devices and analyzer devices 112 may beconfigured and controlled by the direct device control system 152.

Voltage and Volt-Var Control System 154: The volt-VAR control system 154may perform on demand voltage reduction or continuous conservationvoltage reduction (CVR) operations and integrated two way capacitorcontrol operations and transform tap changing to control reactive powerand voltage within a power distribution network.

Substation Automation System 158: In modern substations analogmeasurement, protection and control mechanisms are replaced withintelligent electronic devices. In some embodiments a local area networkmay be implemented at the substation to which various computing devices,communication devices and other digital devices, such as the intelligentelectronic devices may be communicatively coupled. The local areanetwork may even gather information and data from measurement, controland analyzer devices located downstream, including circuits within powercustomer's homes. In some instances the substation automation system mayinclude components of other systems, such as the direct device controlsystem 152, the demand response system 164, the distribution managementsystem 170, and the volt VAR control system 154.

Distributed Power Generation System 160: This system 160 controls powergeneration functions accessible to a utility company to provide power tothe power grid.

Power Restoration System 160: This system 160 controls the powerrestoration operations of a power distribution system. For example, itmay be desirable to control switching banks when restoring power so asnot to overload a given portion of a power distribution system.

Demand Response System 164: The demand response system includes loadcontrol devices located at customer premises along with computingapplications for monitoring and controlling the load control devices.The demand response system 164 provides the ability to control the loadto reduce or restore power demand in response to various supplyconditions. Additional detail is discussed below with regard to thedemand response application.

Smart Metering System 166: A smart metering system 166 provides theinfrastructure and computer program applications for reading metersremotely via a communication medium, such as a wireless, wired, or powerline medium. In some embodiments a utility meter may include a wirelessmodem. A communication device located at a substation or near adistribution transformer may send commands to the meter and remotelyread the meter. In other embodiments, the meter may be read via a PLCS.The acquired data may be sent to a utility command center or otherlocation to store such data and to process such data for customerbilling.

Condition Based Maintenance System 168: The condition based maintenancesystem 168 may analyze data and process it for alarm conditions. Whenspecific criteria are met, maintenance operations may be scheduled for agiven component of an affected portion of the power transmission anddistribution system 110.

Distribution Management 170: The distribution management system 170monitors load at various portions of the power transmission anddistribution management 110 and may perform load balancing and otherpower flow control operations.

Planning system 172: The planning system may be used to run varioussimulations and what if scenarios to evaluate the utility company'sability to meet the power needs of a given region or population.

Asset Management System 174: The asset management system 174 keeps trackof the various devices and components of the power transmission anddistribution system 110. For example identifying data may be maintainedabout transformers, sensing devices, communication devices and otherequipment which form part of a power transmission and distributionsystem 110 or the communication infrastructure 114.

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) System 176: The SCADAsystem 176 is a distributed industrial network which gathers operationaldata about the power transmission and distribution system 110, such asthe voltage or current output at a substation or at a distributiontransformer.

Geographic Information System 178: The geographic information system 178may include information that relates location to specific events andassets (e.g., equipment).

Work Management System 180: The work management system 180 may perform ascheduling function for deploying technicians and other personnel toperform various jobs, such as periodic maintenance or condition basedmaintenance.

Fault Management System 182: The fault management system 182 may includeapplications that process data against various thresholds to predictpotential faults and to identify (e.g., predict) and locate actualfaults and specify the impacted area to support restoration activities.

Power Distribution Information Management and Control Applications

FIG. 2 depicts a data and control flow diagram for a PTDIMC 100,according to an example embodiment of the present invention. Variousapplications 202-236 may be hosted among the utility management andcontrol support systems 140. These applications may perform variousfunctions, such as identifying locations of power outages andrestorations, implementing demand response functionality, predictingfault occurrences, identifying fault locations, detecting power theft,or detecting equipment degradation. This list of functions is notexhaustive, as various applications may perform additional functions.

Some or all of these applications 202-236 may constitute or form part ofmodules that may access the analysis engine 126 to perform the variousfunctions or portions thereof. The applications 202-236 (or associatedmodules) also may request data from the data mart 124. The analysisengine 126 also may access to data from the data mart 124. A datarequest may be made through the data service interface of the datamart124, which selects an appropriate database adaptor to access theappropriate physical database(s) to obtain the desired data. Eachadaptor (or driver thereof) may have access to specific schema data of adifferent database of the datamart. Before routing a data request to theadaptor, the integration server of the data mart, using its map (ordictionary), will convert the universal unique ID (UUID) provided by theapplication with the data request into the correct local node ID for theadaptor determined to be the best adaptor to service the request. Thelocal node ID is recognizable by the database whereas the UUID is not.In some instances the data may already be stored among the databases ofthe data mart 124. In other instances, the data may be acquired from anyof the measurement devices, control devices and analyzer devices 112,such as by transmitting a request through a communication network 115(e.g., via SCADA), included within the communications infrastructure114. Execution of a given application 202-236 or of an object of theanalysis engine 126 also may include generation of a report ornotification. The report/notification service interface 134 may includea report and notification generator module 135 to create, store,display, print and/or transmit a report or notification. Descriptions ofexample applications are provided below.

Smart Metering: The smart metering application 202 forms part of thesmart metering system 166. Various modules of the application may beexecuted at various computing devices. For example a scheduler modulemay determine when data from specific meters is to be acquired. A datacontrol module may store the data in one or more databases. A billingmodule may access the data to generate customer billing information.

Condition Monitoring and Analysis: The condition monitoring and analysisapplication 204 may access apparatus measurements, correlate them withpower measurements to determine the health of the apparatus and toidentify maintenance that is required to prevent an equipment failure.Condition Information about the apparatus and a signature of whatconstitutes a potential problem accessed for this analysis. Thecondition monitoring and analysis application may 204 be distinct orform part of any one or more of the following: the analysis engine 126,the direct device control system 152, and the condition basedmaintenance system 168.

Substation Automation: The substation automation application 206performs functions for configuring a local area network and itscomponents at a given substation. For example, control messages may betransmitted to substations to configure components therein. Variousoperations may be scheduled to monitor and maintain substationoperations and the power distribution system assets served by thesubstation.

Load Forecasting: The load forecasting application 208 accessespreviously acquired from the data mart 124 and current data from variousmeasurement, control and analyzer devices 112 to forecast load for oneor more segments of a power distribution network. For example, varioussimulations and what if scenarios may be analyzed under variousconditions to forecast the load.

High Impedance Fault Detection: The high impedance fault detectionapplication 210 monitors voltage and current (e.g., (e.g., monitoringfor a sharp increase in current with a corresponding increase of lineimpedance or the loss of downstream voltage) at various locationsthroughout the power transmission and distribution system to identifyany high impedance fault occurrences, which may indicate a damagedcircuit or a downed conductor). Detection of a high impedance fault mayresult in an alarm notification.

Vegetation Incursion: The vegetation incursion application 212 detectsimpedance (or current) transients in vegetative areas and may monitorweather conditions (e.g., wind speed) to determine whether vegetation istouching an un-insulated power line and determine an approximatelocation. A detailed description of an example of a vegetation incursionapplication 212 is provided in U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/439,198, filed May 24, 2006, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,626,497,entitled “Power Line Communication Vegetation Management System AndMethod,” which incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for allpurposes. Other methods may also be used.

Incipient Cable Fault: The incipient cable fault application 214 detectfault conditions in underground residential distribution (URD) cables.As the URD cable deteriorates, and in particular as the insulation layerdeteriorates, moisture may accumulate in spots within the cable.Eventually enough moisture may accumulate to lower the local resistancesufficiently that an arc occurs between the center conductor and theouter neutral. This arc generally occurs at the peak voltage (positiveor negative amplitude), which causes a current surge briefly during thearc. As the power line continues to deteriorate, current surges mayoccur more frequently. The location of the incipient cable fault may bedetermined to be between the two power distribution transformers wheretwo current sensors (where one sensor detects a current surge and theother does not) are approximately located. The nodes associated witheach sensor may transmit notifications upon detecting such a currentsurge. A detailed description of an example of an incipient cable faultapplication 214 is provided in U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/169,223, filed Jul. 8, 2008 entitled “System and Method forPredicting a Fault in a Power Line,” which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety for all purposes.

Theft Detection: By comparing the current output from a transformer withcumulative power meter data of one or more customer premises serviced bythe transformer, power theft may be detected and located when adiscrepancy is detected. Thus, the node may measure the output currentand voltage of a transformer and transmit the information periodicallyto a remote computer system which compares the data with data from aplurality of meters (which may be automated meters). A detaileddescription of an example of a theft detection application 218 isprovided in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/775,209, filed Jul. 9,2007, entitled “Power Theft Detection System and Method,” which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

Power Outage and Restoration: A power outage is the loss of voltage on acircuit. There are various potential causes of a power outage but themost common is the loss of voltage due to the opening of a feederbreaker clearing a faulted circuit.

A power outage is a loss of power which may be measured as approximatelya zero current flow along a power line or zero voltage on a power line.A power outage may result from equipment failure in a power station, asubstation, a transformer, or an overload to the MV power lines (causinga fuse to blow, a switch to open, a recloser to open, etc.). A poweroutage may also be caused by damage to a power line (e.g., a break) asdiscussed above. A “brownout” is a term used to refer to a condition inwhich the voltage of a power line (e.g., a low voltage power line) isbelow a normal minimum level, as specified for the given distributionsystem, but greater than zero. Some brownouts, also referred to asvoltage reductions, are made intentionally to prevent a power outage.For example, power distribution capacity may be rotated among variousdistricts to avoid total area or regional blackouts when the power drawexceeds or approaches generation capacity.

Power outage may be identified based upon any of several analyses. Avoltage drop on both of the energized conductors of a low voltage (LV)power line below a threshold voltage for a predetermined duration may bedetected by a node co-located at a transformer correlates well with animminent power fault and power outage. For example, upon detection of areduction in voltage of a low voltage power line below a predeterminedthreshold that remains for a time period (e.g., by measuring theinstantaneous voltage over time and averaging the measurements), thenode may transmit a last gasp notification to a remote computer systemthat indicates a power outage (and store data in non-volatile memory).The notification may also include information identifying thetransmitting node which may be used by the computer system to determinethe location of the outage. Upon processing the notifications from aplurality of nodes, the outage may then be displayed on a map on adisplay. When power is restored and the node powers up, it may accessits non-volatile memory to determine if it powered down because of apower outage and, if so, transmit a notification of the powerrestoration to the remote computer system for display on a map. Adetailed description of an example of a power outage and restorationapplication 220 is provided in U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/354,523 filed Jan. 15, 2009, entitled “System, Device and Method forProviding Power Outage and Restoration Notification,” which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

Transformer Overload: Overload conditions may cause a transformer'swindings to operate at a higher temperature, which in turn causes agradual deterioration in the transformer insulation. Ultimately atransformer in the weakened insulation condition may fail, for example,in response to a lightening strike. Thus, a node co-located at atransformer may monitor the output power of the transformer and maytransmit the data (along with data sufficient for identifying thetransformer such as a pole number) to a remote computer system, whichcompares the received data with a rating of the transformer to determineif it is overloaded or underloaded. A detailed description of an exampleof a transformer overload detection application 222 is provided in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/756,858, filed Jun. 1, 2007 entitled,“System and Method for Detecting Distribution Transformer Overload,”which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for allpurposes.

Conservation Voltage Reduction (CVR): Utilities are required to providepower to customer premises within an acceptable voltage range such as,for example, between 114 and 126 volts. Utilities typically regulatesubstation bus voltage to the high end of the band to ensure that thefar end of a medium voltage power line receives adequate voltage tosupply the nearby customer premises with the minimum required voltage.However, voltage above a necessary minimum causes an increase in powerrequired to be generated, transmitted and distributed through the powertransmission and distribution system 110. Reduction of the voltage tothe lower end of the band results in considerable energy savings overtime. CVR offers two main benefits. One benefit is that fixed impedanceloads, such incandescent lighting, may experience a significant drop inKW power consumption when voltage is lowered. Another benefit is thattransformer core loss may drop because core/iron loss is a function ofthe voltage.

The CVR application 224 monitors voltage sensors distant from thesubstation (e.g., at a meter or at a distribution transformer andtransmitted by an automated meter or node) to obtain the voltages. Inaddition, capacitor bank controllers are in place with remotecommunications capability. Capacitor bank measurements and status arecontinuously monitored. If monitored voltages (substation or end ofline) fall outside of thresholds, the application will determine thebest control to execute to correct the situation. Various voltagecontrol and VAR control algorithms operate to regulate the voltagesupplied by the substation and VAR to their optimum levels. Theapplication allows objective functions to be configured by the utility(loss reduction, demand reduction, enhancing restoration capabilities,etc.).

Utilities can achieve significant improvements in power factor, voltageregulation and reduction in line losses through the optimal applicationof remote two way controlled capacitor banks. Traditional capacitorapplications rely on local measurements and localized control to achievea portion of the possible benefits. A centralized two way capacitorcontrol solution includes centralized two way capacitor controlsoftware, integration with substation SCADA measurement data, andintegration with line capacitor banks. The CVR application 224 mayinclude the two way capacitor control program code. Benefits of thecentralized two way capacitor control solution Include: reduction ofcurrent flowing to supply VAR load, reduction of losses associated withreactive current flow, reduction of voltage drop associated withreactive current flow, freeing of system capacity, and improvement incapacitor bank availability. Utilizing two way measurement and control,the switching of capacitor banks may be automated and optimized by:selection of which feeder to enable/disable a capacitor bank based onreal time VAR load and local voltage conditions; selection of whichindividual capacitor to switch based on real time VAR load and voltageconditions; and real Time alarming of capacitors which fail to operate.Detailed descriptions of examples of a CVR application 224 is providedin U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/045,851, filed Apr. 17, 2008,entitled “System and Method for Improving the Efficiency of a PowerDistribution System,” which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety for all purposes.

Demand Response: The system may include a load shed module whichincludes demand response functionality, which is the ability to controland reduce the load in response to various supply conditions. To providesuch functionality various load control devices may be installed atcustomer premises. For example, a programmable thermostat having aremote access capability may serve as a load control device. Customersmay for example give permission to the utility company to adjust thethermostat during high demand situations (e.g., when there is not enoughsupply to meet demand). The demand response application 226 providesload shedding and may include the functions to detect a high demandsituation and remotely access the load control device to reduce demandof a specific load or groups of loads. For example a command may be sentto a thermostat to turn off or turn down the temperature setting of thecustomer's the air conditioning system. The utility company may do thisfor one or more customers to reduce the load on a power distributionsystem. As the demand decreases, the application 226 may restore thesettings to select homes, neighborhoods or regions. The utility may alsoallow consumers to log in via browser based interface to control theirown temperature setting and loads. Detailed descriptions of examples ofa demand response system 164 and demand response application 226 areprovided in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/354,262 filed Jan. 15,2009, entitled “System, Method and Computer Program Product forProviding Demand Response Functionality,” which is incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety for all purposes.

Power Flow: The power flow application 228 provides load balancing andvoltage control functions. The application 228 provides a staticrepresentation of all or a portion of a power transmission anddistribution system, along with update and modeling features. Forexample, a model of the power transmission and distribution system maybe derived and switches may be shown to be open or closed. Variouscomponents may be represented as an electric node. Real time and nearreal time sensor data may be obtained to measure values to populate themodel. Various what if scenarios may be performed to identify andevaluate physical changes to the power transmission and distributionsystem and, if appropriate, transmit control messages to switches andother devices to change the flow of power.

Transformer analysis: The transformer analysis application 230 maymonitor distribution transformers to detect changes in parameters thatmay be a signature of degraded, poorly installed, or defectedtransformer. For example, voltage at a plurality of transformers may bemonitored by nodes to detect voltage signatures that are predictive oftransformer failures such as a short of the turns of a winding (whichmay be detected by rapid sustained increase in voltage output).Processing the measurement data to detect various trigger eventsindicative of transformer degradation may be performed. Depending uponthe extent of the degradation, maintenance or other responsive steps maybe taken to prevent a power distribution system failure. Othersignatures may indicate a loose neutral conductor. Also, by determiningthe power input and the power output, inefficient transformer may bedetected. A detailed description of an example of a transformer analysisapplication 230 is provided in U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/353,420, filed Jan. 14, 2009, entitled “System and Method forDetermining Power Line Equipment Degradation,” which is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

Fault and Outage Analysis: The fault and outage analysis application mayprocess data to determine the type of fault, location of a fault,recommended corrective action(s), and provide a report. In someinstances, the location of the fault may also be given by a location ofa power outage (e.g., where the outage begins). A detailed descriptionof an example of a portion of a fault and outage analysis application232 is provided in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/354,225, filedJan. 15, 2009, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Communicating a PowerDistribution Event and Location,” which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety for all purposes.

Method of Providing Asset and Information Management and Control

According to an example embodiment of the present invention, a method ofproviding asset and information management and control may includeexecuting one or more of the PTDIMC applications 202-236. Prior to suchexecution, the PTDIMC configuration may be modeled or updated. Forexample, at step 302, asset property data and network topology data maybe acquired and stored. Such step may be repeated periodically or afterchanges to the PTDIMC 100 to update the configuration.

At step 304, an application from among PTDIMC applications 202-236 maybe executed. In some instances an application is run automatically basedupon a schedule or in response to a condition or trigger event detectedby another application or the analysis engine 126. In other instances atechnician or other user with sufficient privileges may start theapplication, such as by entering a command at one of the human machineinterfaces 132. Execution of the application may include performingvarious functions. For example execution of the power outage andrestoration application 220 may include identifying the location(s) ofpower outage(s) and/or the location(s) of power restoration(s).Execution of the demand response application 226 includes implementingdemand response functionality. Execution of the high impedance faultdetection application 210, incipient cable fault application 214 orfault and outage analysis application 232 may include identifying alocation of and/or predicting a fault. Execution of the power flowapplication 228 may include performing load balancing. Execution of thetheft detection application 218 may include identifying a source ofpower theft. Execution of the transformer analysis application 230 mayinclude identifying one or more transformers or other PTDIMC assetswhich are underperforming or otherwise degrading. Execution of the smartmetering application 202 may include acquiring automated meter readingdata. Executing the substation automation application 206 may configurea substation LAN, control equipment or configure processes to beperformed at a given power substation. Execution of the load forecastingapplication 208 may result in load being predicted for specificscenarios and power transmission and distribution system portions.

In some instances the executed application 202-236 may include a call tothe analysis engine 126 at step 306 to perform one or more functionsassociated with the application. For example an analysis object may beaccessed which generates a voltage waveform or performs some othermethod or calculation. During processing by the analysis engine 126 orone of the applications 202-236, additional data may be requested fromthe data mart (and/or one or more measurement devices, control devicesor analyzer devices 112). Accordingly, in one example at step 308 assetmeasurement data may be requested from the data mart 124.

At step 310, the acquired data is processed, such as by the analysisengine 126 and/or one of the applications 202-236. Such processing mayresult in an alarm condition being detected, a fault being identified orlocated, a power outage location being identified, or some other resultconsistent with the functions provided by any of the applications202-236. In some instances, a report and/or a notification also may begenerated at step 312. The report may be stored for later viewing,displayed, printed and/or transmitted. Similarly a notification may belogged, stored, displayed, printed, included in a report, and/ortransmitted.

One embodiment of the present invention may take the form of a systemfor processing utility data of a power grid and comprise a datamartcomprised of a plurality of physical databases storing utility data, aplurality of applications comprising an automated meter applicationconfigured to process power usage data from a plurality of automatedmeters, a power outage application configured to identify a location ofa power outage, and a power restoration application configured toidentify a location of a power restoration. The system may include ananalysis engine comprising a plurality of analysis objects with eachanalysis object configured to process data to provide a specificanalysis, wherein said analysis engine is accessible via one or more ofthe plurality of applications, and the system may include a reportmodule configured to receive an output from the analysis engine and tooutput a report.

The plurality of applications may include a fault analysis applicationconfigured to identify a location of a fault, a substation automationapplication configured to configure one or more components at asubstation, a load control application configured to perform loadshedding, an incipient cable fault application configured to predict alocation of a fault of an underground power cable, a theft detectionapplication configured to identify a location of a power theft, atransformer analysis module configured to identify an overloadedtransformer, a high impedance fault detection application configured toidentify a location of a high impedance fault, a load forecastingapplication configured to provide a forecast of power demand; and aconservation voltage reduction application configured to control anoutput voltage of a substation to reduce power consumption, a power flowapplication configured to control the flow of power through the powergrid, and a vegetation incursion application configured to identify alocation of a vegetation incursion

The datamart may include a plurality of drivers with each driver havingaccess to data of a specific schema of a different one of the pluralityof databases. The analysis engine may be configured to cause said reportmodule to output an alarm notification if processing of utility datasatisfies one of a plurality of predetermined conditions.

Another embodiment of the present invention may take the form of acomputer program product comprising a computer readable medium encodinga computer program for executing on a computer system to provide acomputer process for providing information related to a powerdistribution system based on information provided by a plurality ofnodes, wherein the process comprises providing access to a plurality ofphysical databases storing utility data, processing the utility data toidentify a location of a power outage and output a power outagelocation, processing the utility data to identify a location of a powerrestoration and output a power restoration location, transmittingcontrol messages to configure one or more components at a substation;and transmitting control messages to one or more load control devices toperform load shedding. The process may further comprise processingutility data to provide a forecast of power demand of portions of thepower grid and to output a forecast report, processing utility data topredict a location of a fault of an underground power cable and tooutput information identifying a location of the predicted fault,processing utility data to identify a location of a power theft and tooutput information identifying a location of the power theft; processingutility data to identify an overloaded transformer and to outputinformation identifying the overloaded transformer; processing utilitydata to identify a location of a high impedance fault, outputtingcontrol messages to control an output voltage of a substation;outputting control messages to control the flow of power through thepower grid; and outputting an alarm notification if processing ofutility data satisfies one of a plurality of predetermined conditions.The computer program product may comprise a plurality of drivers witheach driver having access to data of a specific schema of a differentone of the plurality of databases.

Yet another embodiment of the present invention may comprise a systemfor processing utility data of a power grid data. The system maycomprise a data management system configured to store the utility data;a fault analyst module configured to process utility data to identifylocations of power outages and to output fault location data, a powerrestoration module configured to process utility data to identifylocations of power restorations and to output restoration location dataon a map on a display; and a power outage module configured to processutility data to identify locations of power outages and to output poweroutage location data on a map on a display. The data management systemmay comprises a datamart having a plurality of physical databases and aplurality of drivers with each driver having access to data of aspecific schema of a different one of the plurality of physicaldatabases. The system may further comprise a measurement data processingmodule configured to process utility data that comprises voltage dataderived from measurements taken at a plurality of distributiontransformers and to output an analysis report; a meter module configuredto receive power usage data derived from a plurality of automated metersand to output billing data; a substation automation module configured totransmit control messages to configure one or more components at asubstation; a load control module configured to transmit controlmessages to perform load shedding; an incipient cable fault moduleconfigured to process utility data to predict a location of a fault ofan underground power cable and to output an incipient fault location; atheft detection module configured to process utility data to identify alocation of a power theft and to output a theft location; a transformeranalysis module configured to process utility data to identify anoverloaded transformer and to output a transformer report; a highimpedance fault detection module configured to process utility data toidentify a location of a high impedance fault and to output a locationof a high impedance fault; a load forecasting module configured toprovide a forecast of power demand and to output a forecast report; aconservation voltage reduction module configured to process utility datato control the output voltage of a substation to reduce powerconsumption; and a power flow application configured to process utilitydata to control the flow of power through the power grid; and an alarmmodule configured to output an alarm notification if processing ofutility data satisfies one of a plurality of predetermined conditions.

It is to be understood that the foregoing illustrative embodiments havebeen provided merely for the purpose of explanation and are in no way tobe construed as limiting of the invention. Words used herein are wordsof description and illustration, rather than words of limitation. Inaddition, the advantages and objectives described herein may not berealized by each and every embodiment practicing the present invention.Further, although the invention has been described herein with referenceto particular structure, materials and/or embodiments, the invention isnot intended to be limited to the particulars disclosed herein. Rather,the invention extends to all functionally equivalent structures, methodsand uses, such as are within the scope of the appended claims. Thoseskilled in the art, having the benefit of the teachings of thisspecification, may affect numerous modifications thereto and changes maybe made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

1. A system for processing utility data of a power grid, comprising: anautomated meter module configured to process power usage utility datafrom a plurality of automated meters; a load control module configuredto perform load shedding based on the utility data; a voltage controlmodule configured to decrease an output voltage of one or moresubstations, based on the utility data, to reduce power consumption;wherein said voltage control module is configured to receive voltagedata from one or more of the plurality of automated meters; and whereinsaid voltage control module is configured to increase the output voltageof one or more substations in response to determining that a voltage atthe one or more of the plurality of automated meters is below athreshold value.
 2. The system according to claim 1, further comprisinga theft detection module configured to identify a location of a powertheft based on the utility data.
 3. The system according to claim 1,further comprising a load forecasting module configured to output aforecast of power demand based on the utility data.
 4. The systemaccording to claim 1, further comprising a report module configured toreceive information from said load control module, said automated metermodule and said conservation voltage reduction module and to output areport.
 5. The system according to claim 1, further comprising an alarmmodule configured to output a notification if processing of the utilitydata satisfies one of a plurality of predetermined conditions.
 6. Thesystem according to claim 5, wherein said one of the plurality ofpredetermined conditions comprises a condition in which a voltage isbeyond a threshold voltage.
 7. The system according to claim 1, furthercomprising an alarm module configured to process the utility data and tooutput a first notification if a voltage is below a first threshold andto output a second notification if the voltage is above a secondthreshold.
 8. The system according to claim 1, further comprising adatamart comprised of a plurality of physical databases storing theutility data.
 9. The system according to claim 1, further comprising apower flow module configured to control the flow of power through thepower grid based on the utility data.
 10. A system for processingutility data of a power grid, comprising: an automated meter moduleconfigured to process power usage utility data from a plurality ofautomated meters; a load control module configured to perform loadshedding based on the utility data; an alarm module configured to outputa notification if processing of the utility data satisfies one of aplurality of predetermined conditions; a voltage control moduleconfigured to decrease an output voltage of one or more substations,based on the utility data, to reduce power consumption; wherein saidvoltage control module is configured to receive voltage data from one ormore of the plurality of automated meters; and wherein said voltagecontrol module is configured to increase the output voltage of one ormore substations in response to determining that a voltage at the one ormore of the plurality of automated meters is below a threshold value.11. The system according to claim 10, further comprising a loadforecasting module configured to output a forecast of power demand basedon the utility data.
 12. The system according to claim 11, furthercomprising a power flow module configured to control the flow of powerthrough the power grid based on the utility data.
 13. The systemaccording to claim 10, further comprising a theft detection moduleconfigured to identify a location of a power theft based on the utilitydata.
 14. The system according to claim 10, further comprising a powerflow module configured to control the flow of power through the powergrid based on the utility data.
 15. The system according to claim 14,wherein said power flow module is configured to provide a model of atleast a portion of the power grid that includes representations ofswitches in the power grid and an indication as to whether each switchis open or closed; and wherein said power flow module is configured totransmit control messages to the switches to control the flow of powerthrough the power grid.
 16. The system according to claim 10, whereinsaid one of the plurality of predetermined conditions comprises acondition in which a voltage is beyond a threshold voltage.
 17. A systemfor processing utility data of a power grid that delivers power to aplurality of power customers, comprising: an automated meter moduleconfigured to process power usage utility data from a plurality ofautomated meters; a load forecasting module configured to output aforecast of power demand based on the utility data; a power flow moduleconfigured to provide a model of at least a portion of the power gridthat includes representations of switches in the power grid and anindication as to whether each switch is open or closed; said power flowmodule configured to transmit control messages to the switches tocontrol the flow of power through the power grid; and an alarm moduleconfigured to output a notification if processing of the utility datasatisfies one of a plurality of predetermined conditions.
 18. The systemaccording to claim 17, further comprising a voltage control moduleconfigured to decrease an output voltage of one or more substations,based on the utility data, to reduce power consumption.
 19. The systemaccording to claim 17, further comprising a theft detection moduleconfigured to identify a location of a power theft based on the utilitydata.
 20. The system according to claim 17, further comprising a loadcontrol module configured to perform load shedding based on the utilitydata.
 21. The system according to claim 17, wherein said alarm module isconfigured to process the utility data and to output a firstnotification if a voltage is below a first threshold and to output asecond notification if the voltage is above a second threshold.
 22. Thesystem according to claim 17, wherein said voltage control module isconfigured to receive voltage data from one or more of the plurality ofautomated meters; and wherein said voltage control module is configuredto increase the output voltage of one or more substations in response todetermining that a voltage at the one or more of the plurality ofautomated meters is below a threshold value.